ometimes being the best takes years of practice, but for Justin McCune, voted Best Budtender, it's only taken him three months to "eclipse" all other budtenders.

A relatively new hire at Miracle Greens, McCune hit the ground running, hitting the books and doing some experiential learning. "I picked two strains and got really familiar with those and only smoked those two for a couple weeks, so I could get really familiar with them," McCune explained. "Then I started branching out a little more and trying other strains."

Having worked in the restaurant industry, McCune is no stranger to customer service—and this is where he really shines. If you know what you want, he'll get that for you while he talks to you like he's genuinely interested in whatever you have to say. If you don't know what you want— which many customers new to legal weed don't—he'll patiently help you figure it out and give you recommendations that won't confuse your stoner brain.

"I like to ask people what kind of adventures they are going to do that day so I can help with the selection process," he said. "When I give recommendations I like to tell them what I felt like doing after I smoked it. This one made me want to go for a run, this one made me feel like chopping wood, this one gave me mad munchies two hours in—that kind of thing."